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Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling isn't giving up his beloved franchise without a fight. According to reports, Sterling has sought the counsel of famed antitrust lawyer Maxwell Blecher to represent him in a fight against the NBA's attempt to remove his franchise ownership rights for controversial comments made last month. A letter drafted by Blecher was sent to the league's legal counsel outlining Sterling's refusal to pay the $2.5 million fine imposed by Commissioner Adam Silver and that litigation over the matter was imminent.

The letter goes on to site several legal defenses Sterling team will use to argue his case. Specifically, it is Blecher's belief that Sterling's "due process rights" have been violated. Due process is a constitutional requirement that requires state actors must abide by all legal rights owed to a person under the law, including: 1) providing a notice of allegations brought against the individual, 2) the right to grieve (complain or disagree with the allegations), and 3) the right to appeal through some sort of grievance procedure. Considering the NBA took less than a week to rule on the issue, one could argue that Sterling's due process rights were in fact violated. Of course, the biggest obstacle Sterling has in adjudicating this defense is the NBA is a private organization that is not required to abide by due process. Moreover, by purchasing the franchise, Sterling specifically consented to abide by the leagues own rules and regulations.

The NBA made a decision to remove Sterling as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers after his then girlfriend V. Stivano produced a recording of racist remarks he made that lead to national outrage.

Sterling's second legal claim states that he did not in fact violate any article of the NBA constitution. As reported by Forbes several weeks ago, the NBA is expected to revoke Sterling's ownership by using Article 13(d) of the league's constitution, which allows the leagues ownership to terminate another owner’s franchise rights with a three-fourths vote of the NBA Board of Governors when that owner “fails to fulfill a contractual obligation in such a way as to affect the [league] or its members adversely.”

Whether either of these claims or any other that Sterling raises will hold up in a court of law remains to be seen. What is for certain is that Sterling has positioned himself to battle the NBA for the Los Angeles Clippers till the very end.

Jason Belzer is Founder of GAME, Inc. and a Professor of Organizational Behavior and Sports Law at Rutgers University. Follow him on Twitter @JasonBelzer.